Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
I'm not really sure at all if anyone wants to learn Himmaswa, but I figured I'd put up some lessons anyway, see if anyone's interested. If there are responses, I will continue. If not, it can slowly drift onto page 2.
Lesson 1: Consonants
Himmaswa consonants are relatively painless to learn. The full list is as follows:
voiceless stops: /p t k/ <p t k>
voiced stops: /b~ɓ d~ɗ, ɡ/ <b d g>
nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ng>
fricatives: /f s ʧ ʤ h/ <f s ch j h>
lateral: /l~ɭ~ɾ/ <l/r>
approximants: /w j/ <w y>
Some notes on allophony are needed here. The most obvious consonant in need of explanation is l/r. Its default pronunciation, found in the majority of environments, is [l]. When /l/ appears in the rhyme after an open/mid- or back vowel, it is pronounced [ɭ]. The pronunciation [ɾ] occurs when /l/ follows /t d ʧ ʤ/. Note that this only occurs in initial consonant clusters; these stops/affricates cannot trigger the [ɾ] pronunciation between morpheme boundaries.
Next are the two voiced consonants with ingressive allophones. This varies geographically. In some places, there are no ingressives, in in some places, they are always ingressive. In regions with both pronunciations, /b/ and /d/ become ingressive when they are followed by back vowels.
Voiceless stops /p t k/ are aspirated ([pʰ tʰ kʰ]) in most environments, including before fricatives. /ʧ/, which phonologically is considered a stop, but it is not aspirated.
Coda stops are unaspirated, and very often unreleased. /ʧ/ is generally unchanged in coda position.
Coda stops sometimes form syllables with vowel-initial syllables. and sometimes remain unreleased. The difference is how lexicalized the sequence is; strongly lexicalized sequences are more likely to merge final consonants with initial vowels, while non-lexical sequences generally do not.
Onset clusters
Himmaswa syllables may begin with a wide variety of initial consonant clusters. There are a few rules that determine which clusters are disallowed, but anything beyond those rules is possible.
In onset clusters of C1C2:
• C1 and C2 are never both nasals or fricatives, or stops of the same articulation point (note that /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are treated as stops for the purposes of this rule);
• If C1 and C2 are of the same articulation point, C2 is never a nasal or fricative (except in the cluster /ts/);
• C2 can never be /f/;
• /h/ never appears in clusters other than /hw/;
• C2 may only be /w/ when C1 is one of the following: /t k d ɡ s h/;
• C2 may only be /j/ when C1 is one of the following: /k ɡ s/.
Realization of onset clusters
All initial consonant clusters represent a historical collapse of what was once a minor initial syllable constituting the first half of a sesquisyllabic root, i.e. a root consisting of a phonologically restricted minor syllable followed by an unrestricted major syllable. While some of these roots remain in the modern language (e.g. kiteen, godol), the majority of minor syllables have been reduced to onset clusters. Certain clusters still retain remnants of the minor syllable vowel, in the form of a short schwa that forms a barrier to consonant assimilation. The rules for the appearance of this schwa are as follows:
No schwa exists in the following cluster types:
• voiceless stop + voiceless stop
• fricative + voiceless stop
• nasal + homorganic stop
• /ls/
• voiceless stop + heterorganic nasal
• any consonant + approximant
A schwa exists in the following cluster types:
• voiced stop + voiceless stop
• nasal + heterorganic stop
• voiced stop + /s/
• approximant + any consonant
A schwa may optionally occur in the following cluster types:
• voiced stop + voiced stop
• voiceless stop + voiced stop
• voiced stop + nasal
(remember that /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are considered stops for these rules)
Coda consonants
The inventory of possible coda consonants is much more limited. The only possible coda consonants are /p m t n ʧ ɲ k ŋ l/.
Exercise:
See if you can pronounce these clusters, followed by the vowel /a/:
pda, dka, ñta, jba, gsa, wña, yba, chra, ngja, tma, fka, mla, nta, lsa
The next lesson will cover vowels, which are a lot more complex than the consonants.
Lesson 1: Consonants
Himmaswa consonants are relatively painless to learn. The full list is as follows:
voiceless stops: /p t k/ <p t k>
voiced stops: /b~ɓ d~ɗ, ɡ/ <b d g>
nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ng>
fricatives: /f s ʧ ʤ h/ <f s ch j h>
lateral: /l~ɭ~ɾ/ <l/r>
approximants: /w j/ <w y>
Some notes on allophony are needed here. The most obvious consonant in need of explanation is l/r. Its default pronunciation, found in the majority of environments, is [l]. When /l/ appears in the rhyme after an open/mid- or back vowel, it is pronounced [ɭ]. The pronunciation [ɾ] occurs when /l/ follows /t d ʧ ʤ/. Note that this only occurs in initial consonant clusters; these stops/affricates cannot trigger the [ɾ] pronunciation between morpheme boundaries.
Next are the two voiced consonants with ingressive allophones. This varies geographically. In some places, there are no ingressives, in in some places, they are always ingressive. In regions with both pronunciations, /b/ and /d/ become ingressive when they are followed by back vowels.
Voiceless stops /p t k/ are aspirated ([pʰ tʰ kʰ]) in most environments, including before fricatives. /ʧ/, which phonologically is considered a stop, but it is not aspirated.
Coda stops are unaspirated, and very often unreleased. /ʧ/ is generally unchanged in coda position.
Coda stops sometimes form syllables with vowel-initial syllables. and sometimes remain unreleased. The difference is how lexicalized the sequence is; strongly lexicalized sequences are more likely to merge final consonants with initial vowels, while non-lexical sequences generally do not.
Onset clusters
Himmaswa syllables may begin with a wide variety of initial consonant clusters. There are a few rules that determine which clusters are disallowed, but anything beyond those rules is possible.
In onset clusters of C1C2:
• C1 and C2 are never both nasals or fricatives, or stops of the same articulation point (note that /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are treated as stops for the purposes of this rule);
• If C1 and C2 are of the same articulation point, C2 is never a nasal or fricative (except in the cluster /ts/);
• C2 can never be /f/;
• /h/ never appears in clusters other than /hw/;
• C2 may only be /w/ when C1 is one of the following: /t k d ɡ s h/;
• C2 may only be /j/ when C1 is one of the following: /k ɡ s/.
Realization of onset clusters
All initial consonant clusters represent a historical collapse of what was once a minor initial syllable constituting the first half of a sesquisyllabic root, i.e. a root consisting of a phonologically restricted minor syllable followed by an unrestricted major syllable. While some of these roots remain in the modern language (e.g. kiteen, godol), the majority of minor syllables have been reduced to onset clusters. Certain clusters still retain remnants of the minor syllable vowel, in the form of a short schwa that forms a barrier to consonant assimilation. The rules for the appearance of this schwa are as follows:
No schwa exists in the following cluster types:
• voiceless stop + voiceless stop
• fricative + voiceless stop
• nasal + homorganic stop
• /ls/
• voiceless stop + heterorganic nasal
• any consonant + approximant
A schwa exists in the following cluster types:
• voiced stop + voiceless stop
• nasal + heterorganic stop
• voiced stop + /s/
• approximant + any consonant
A schwa may optionally occur in the following cluster types:
• voiced stop + voiced stop
• voiceless stop + voiced stop
• voiced stop + nasal
(remember that /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ are considered stops for these rules)
Coda consonants
The inventory of possible coda consonants is much more limited. The only possible coda consonants are /p m t n ʧ ɲ k ŋ l/.
Exercise:
See if you can pronounce these clusters, followed by the vowel /a/:
pda, dka, ñta, jba, gsa, wña, yba, chra, ngja, tma, fka, mla, nta, lsa
The next lesson will cover vowels, which are a lot more complex than the consonants.
Last edited by clawgrip on 09 Feb 2015 06:06, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 2: Vowels
The Himmaswa vowel system is extremely complex. Vowels are variously distinguished by quality, length, tenseness, various types of phonation (breathy, modal, creaky, rhotic), three types of diphthong (fronting, centering, backing) and two triphthongs. In total, Himmaswa distinguishes 38 distinct vowels that can serve as a syllable nucleus. The orthography is sometimes not uniform in places, but I've been using this orthography for over ten years and have grown quite attached to it. The Himmaswa vowel system is intuitive to me by now, but I think it poses a bit of a challenge to anyone trying to learn the language.
Short vowels
There are seven basic short vowels:
/ɪ ʊ ɛ œ ʌ ɔ a/ <i ou e eu u o a>
Long vowels
Each short vowel has a corresponding long vowel, but length on its own is never phonemic. Each long vowel is supplemented with changes in either tenseness, high offglide, and/or creakiness in one case. The long vowels are as follows:
/iː uː ej yœ̯ ʌu̯ ɔo̯ a̰ː/ <ee oo ey euu uoo oa aa>
You can see that:
+high offglide is characteristic of mid vowels;
+tense occurs on the long versions of all vowels except /ʌ/ and /a/;
+creaky occurs only on the most open vowel, /a/.
Fronting diphthongs
These diphthongs all end with the offglide /j/. Appropriately, only back and central vowels can serve as the core vowel for fronting diphthongs. Following is a list of all fronting diphthongs:
/ʊj əj ɔ̰j aj a̰j/ <ui ay oy aiy ai>
The Roman orthography uses <ui> rather than <uy> for no apparent reason that I can figure. I'm just used to it, so that's what I use. Oh well!
Backing diphthongs
These obviously only occur on front and central vowels. The offglide is variously /w/ or /ɔ̯/. Following is a list:
/iɔ̯ œɔ̯ a̰w/ <io euo ao>
Centering diphthongs
Centering diphthongs are those that end with the offglide /ə̯/. Naturally, only front and back vowels can serve as the base for centring diphthongs. There are four centering diphthongs in Himmaswa:
/iə̯ ɛə̯ /uə̯ i̤ə̯/ <ia ea ua iah>
<ia and iah> are distinguished only by breathiness. We will get to that later.
Triphthongs
There are only two triphthongs. Both take a high vowel (front and back) as their core. The triphthongs are front-to-back and back-to-front, and feature a central vowel.
/iə̯w uə̯j/ <iau ooay>
Rhoticity
Rhotic vowels are those vowels that feature r-colouring. There are four rhotic vowels in Himmaswa, and all of them are long.
/ɚː ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː a̰˞ː/ <ur er or ar>
All rhotic vowels have non-rhotic counterparts, but only one pair of vowel phonemes are distinguished by [±rhotic] alone:
/a̰ː/ <aa> vs. /a̰˞ː/ <ar>
Creaky voice
Creaky voice, or laryngealization, is a compression of the vocal chords that adds a characteristic “creaky” phonation to vowels. In Himmaswa, creaky voice only appears in low or mid- central and back vowels. Following is a list of all eight creaky voice vowels and diphthongs:
/ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː ɔ̰ ɔ̰j a̰˞ː a̰ː a̰w a̰j/ <er or au oy ar aa ao ai>
Creaky voice is a contrastive phonation type, but only for two of the eight creaky vowels:
/ɚː/ <ur> vs. /ɚ̰ː/ <er>
/ɔ/ <o> vs. /ɔ̰/ <au>
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a type of voicing phonation in which the vocal chords are held apart. Breathy voice and creaky voice occupy opposite ends of the phonation spectrum in Himmaswa, with modal (normal) voice in the centre.
In Himmaswa, breathy voice originates from coda /h/, and in some dialects this /h/ remains, sometimes in place of breathy voice phonation. Even in standard Himmaswa, the mid- and high front breathy vowels are typically followed by [ç]. There are a total of six breathy vowels:
/a̤ ɛ̤([ɛ̤ç]) ɪ̤ ([ɪ̤ç]) ɔ̤ ṳ i̤ə̯/ <ah eh ih oh ooh iah>
All breathy vowels contrast with modal vowels <a, e, i, o, ou, ia>. Only one vowel contrasts between modal, creaky, and breathy: <o au oh> /ɔ ɔ̰ ɔ̤/.
Interaction between vowels and coda consonants
The vowels /ʌ/ and /ɛə̯/ require coda consonants.
Breathy vowels cannot be followed by coda consonants.
Vowel list
Here is a list of all vowels:
Short
Modal: /ɪ ʊ ɛ œ ʌ ɔ a/ <i ou e eu u o a>
Creaky: /ɔ̰/ <au>
Breathy: /a̤ ɛ̤([ɛ̤ç]) ɪ̤ ([ɪ̤ç]) ɔ̤ ṳ/ <ah eh ih oh ooh>
Rhotic
Modal: /ɚː/ <ur>
Creaky: /ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː a̰˞ː/ <er or ar>
Long
Modal: /ej yœ̯ ɔo̯ iː uː/ <ey euu oa ee oo>
Creaky: /a̰ː/ <aa>
Fronting
Modal: /aj əj ʊj/ <aiy ay ui>
Creaky: /a̰j ɔ̰j/ <ai oy>
Centering
Modal: /ɛə̯ iə̯ uə̯/ <ea ia ua>
Breathy: /i̤ə̯/ <iah>
Backing
Modal: /œɔ̯ ʌu̯ iɔ̯/ <euo uoo io>
Creaky: /a̰w/ <ao>
Triphthong: /iə̯w uə̯j/ <iau ooay>
Sometimes, apostrophes appear in the orthography. These serve only to disambiguate digraphs/trigraphs, etc.
Exercise:
Here is a random selection of Himmaswa words. See if you can figure out how to pronounce them:
daot, wiaum, steak, wker,syoñjaa, sarkslooay, nchoych, lohmet, kmeung, hion’gniapeuum, Gloañsar, bteutom, biatkniokgsay
The Himmaswa vowel system is extremely complex. Vowels are variously distinguished by quality, length, tenseness, various types of phonation (breathy, modal, creaky, rhotic), three types of diphthong (fronting, centering, backing) and two triphthongs. In total, Himmaswa distinguishes 38 distinct vowels that can serve as a syllable nucleus. The orthography is sometimes not uniform in places, but I've been using this orthography for over ten years and have grown quite attached to it. The Himmaswa vowel system is intuitive to me by now, but I think it poses a bit of a challenge to anyone trying to learn the language.
Short vowels
There are seven basic short vowels:
/ɪ ʊ ɛ œ ʌ ɔ a/ <i ou e eu u o a>
Long vowels
Each short vowel has a corresponding long vowel, but length on its own is never phonemic. Each long vowel is supplemented with changes in either tenseness, high offglide, and/or creakiness in one case. The long vowels are as follows:
/iː uː ej yœ̯ ʌu̯ ɔo̯ a̰ː/ <ee oo ey euu uoo oa aa>
You can see that:
+high offglide is characteristic of mid vowels;
+tense occurs on the long versions of all vowels except /ʌ/ and /a/;
+creaky occurs only on the most open vowel, /a/.
Fronting diphthongs
These diphthongs all end with the offglide /j/. Appropriately, only back and central vowels can serve as the core vowel for fronting diphthongs. Following is a list of all fronting diphthongs:
/ʊj əj ɔ̰j aj a̰j/ <ui ay oy aiy ai>
The Roman orthography uses <ui> rather than <uy> for no apparent reason that I can figure. I'm just used to it, so that's what I use. Oh well!
Backing diphthongs
These obviously only occur on front and central vowels. The offglide is variously /w/ or /ɔ̯/. Following is a list:
/iɔ̯ œɔ̯ a̰w/ <io euo ao>
Centering diphthongs
Centering diphthongs are those that end with the offglide /ə̯/. Naturally, only front and back vowels can serve as the base for centring diphthongs. There are four centering diphthongs in Himmaswa:
/iə̯ ɛə̯ /uə̯ i̤ə̯/ <ia ea ua iah>
<ia and iah> are distinguished only by breathiness. We will get to that later.
Triphthongs
There are only two triphthongs. Both take a high vowel (front and back) as their core. The triphthongs are front-to-back and back-to-front, and feature a central vowel.
/iə̯w uə̯j/ <iau ooay>
Rhoticity
Rhotic vowels are those vowels that feature r-colouring. There are four rhotic vowels in Himmaswa, and all of them are long.
/ɚː ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː a̰˞ː/ <ur er or ar>
All rhotic vowels have non-rhotic counterparts, but only one pair of vowel phonemes are distinguished by [±rhotic] alone:
/a̰ː/ <aa> vs. /a̰˞ː/ <ar>
Creaky voice
Creaky voice, or laryngealization, is a compression of the vocal chords that adds a characteristic “creaky” phonation to vowels. In Himmaswa, creaky voice only appears in low or mid- central and back vowels. Following is a list of all eight creaky voice vowels and diphthongs:
/ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː ɔ̰ ɔ̰j a̰˞ː a̰ː a̰w a̰j/ <er or au oy ar aa ao ai>
Creaky voice is a contrastive phonation type, but only for two of the eight creaky vowels:
/ɚː/ <ur> vs. /ɚ̰ː/ <er>
/ɔ/ <o> vs. /ɔ̰/ <au>
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a type of voicing phonation in which the vocal chords are held apart. Breathy voice and creaky voice occupy opposite ends of the phonation spectrum in Himmaswa, with modal (normal) voice in the centre.
In Himmaswa, breathy voice originates from coda /h/, and in some dialects this /h/ remains, sometimes in place of breathy voice phonation. Even in standard Himmaswa, the mid- and high front breathy vowels are typically followed by [ç]. There are a total of six breathy vowels:
/a̤ ɛ̤([ɛ̤ç]) ɪ̤ ([ɪ̤ç]) ɔ̤ ṳ i̤ə̯/ <ah eh ih oh ooh iah>
All breathy vowels contrast with modal vowels <a, e, i, o, ou, ia>. Only one vowel contrasts between modal, creaky, and breathy: <o au oh> /ɔ ɔ̰ ɔ̤/.
Interaction between vowels and coda consonants
The vowels /ʌ/ and /ɛə̯/ require coda consonants.
Breathy vowels cannot be followed by coda consonants.
Vowel list
Here is a list of all vowels:
Short
Modal: /ɪ ʊ ɛ œ ʌ ɔ a/ <i ou e eu u o a>
Creaky: /ɔ̰/ <au>
Breathy: /a̤ ɛ̤([ɛ̤ç]) ɪ̤ ([ɪ̤ç]) ɔ̤ ṳ/ <ah eh ih oh ooh>
Rhotic
Modal: /ɚː/ <ur>
Creaky: /ɚ̰ː ɔ̰˞ː a̰˞ː/ <er or ar>
Long
Modal: /ej yœ̯ ɔo̯ iː uː/ <ey euu oa ee oo>
Creaky: /a̰ː/ <aa>
Fronting
Modal: /aj əj ʊj/ <aiy ay ui>
Creaky: /a̰j ɔ̰j/ <ai oy>
Centering
Modal: /ɛə̯ iə̯ uə̯/ <ea ia ua>
Breathy: /i̤ə̯/ <iah>
Backing
Modal: /œɔ̯ ʌu̯ iɔ̯/ <euo uoo io>
Creaky: /a̰w/ <ao>
Triphthong: /iə̯w uə̯j/ <iau ooay>
Sometimes, apostrophes appear in the orthography. These serve only to disambiguate digraphs/trigraphs, etc.
Exercise:
Here is a random selection of Himmaswa words. See if you can figure out how to pronounce them:
daot, wiaum, steak, wker,syoñjaa, sarkslooay, nchoych, lohmet, kmeung, hion’gniapeuum, Gloañsar, bteutom, biatkniokgsay
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
It's pronounced /yœ̯/. I will get to your answers soon, but I've noticed a major oversight on my consonant page, namely that final stops are not aspirated and are frequently unreleased. I will update the first post to reflect this.
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Has the OP been fully updated? I'll try to find time tomorrow to give this a shot.clawgrip wrote:It's pronounced /yœ̯/. I will get to your answers soon, but I've noticed a major oversight on my consonant page, namely that final stops are not aspirated and are frequently unreleased. I will update the first post to reflect this.
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
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Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
I'm juggling a few things right now, but I'll try to add some new stuff to this soon.
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- mongolian
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Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Just wanted to say that I am interested in learning (about) Himmaswa! I love conlang lessons, because they're.. errm.. like natlang lessons, I guess.
Spoiler:
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Okay, a new lesson.
Lesson 3: Nouns
Along with verbs, nouns are one of the two core parts of speech of Himmaswa. Himmaswa nouns do not inflect for gender, number, or case, and do not typically change form in any way, making them relatively painless to learn.
Here are a few examples:
teen - "seed"
kaak - "animal"
kwang - "royal fern"
leum - "home"
gakwñe - "fish scale"
wiauydoul - "price"
Plural
Nouns may be singular or plural without inflection. The number of a noun typically needs to be identified by context. However, there is a pluralizing morpheme, beym. This can be placed after a noun to indicate the meaning "many".
teen beym - "many seeds"
kaak beym - "many animals"
kwang beym - "many royal ferns"
leum beym - "many homes"
gakwñe beym - "many fish scales"
wiauydoul beym - "many prices"
Associative Plural
Himmaswa has an associative plural, which means a single instance of a noun and a group associated with that noun in some way. Most often, this refers to people rather than things. In many cases, the associative plural is formed identically to the regular plural:
Gleh'auk - "Gleh'auk" (given name)
fion - "king"
chgay - "school"
Gleh'auk beym - "Gleh'auk and his friends/associates/family"
fion beym - "the king and his procession; the monarchy"
chgay beym - "the people at the school"
In cases where it is desirable to differentiate the associative plural from the standard plural, the construction N N-tom beym can be used. This is not, however, used with proper nouns, which, when pluralized, are always interpreted as associative plurals.
fion-tom beym - "the king and his procession; the monarchy"
chgay-tom beym - "the people at the school"
Nonspecific indefiniteness
To indicate a general, prototypical, or hypothetical example, a noun can be compounded with the word gaga, a nonspecific indefinite pronoun. This word comes before the noun it modifies:
gaga-fion "a king; any king; all kings; kings"
gaga-iok "a bee; any bee; all bees; bees"
gaga-pkor "a harvest; any harvest; all harvests; harvests"
The nonspecific indefinite pronoun cannot be used with beym when it is used as a standard plural marker:
gaga-mdaiy "a fern; any fern; all ferns; ferns"
* *gaga-mdaiy beym *"any many ferns"
However, it can be used with the associative plural:
gaga-heuubngoy "a farm; any farm; all farms; farms"
gaga-heuubngoy beym "any farm and the people or things associated with it; farms, and the people/things associated with them"
The distinction between these two is made either by context, or with the word tom.
With proper nouns, this construction means "people named X":
gaga-Gleh'auk - "people named 'Gleh'auk'"
Vocabulary
Word list from this lesson:
beym - plural, associative plural
chgay - "school"
fion - "king"
gaga - nonspecific indefinite pronoun, also acts as prefix to make nonspecific indefinite nouns
gakwñe - "fish scale"
Gleh'auk - "Gleh'auk" (given name)
heuubngoy "farm"
iok - "bee"
kaak - "animal"
kwang - "royal fern"
leum - "home"
mdaiy - "fern"
pkor - "harvest"
teen - "seed"
-tom beym - associative plural
wiauydoul - "price"
Exercise
Translate these to Himmaswa:
1. an animal
2. seeds
3. many farms
4. royal ferns (in general)
5. the people at home (i.e. associated with home)
6. fish scales (in general)
Translate these to English:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lesson 3: Nouns
Along with verbs, nouns are one of the two core parts of speech of Himmaswa. Himmaswa nouns do not inflect for gender, number, or case, and do not typically change form in any way, making them relatively painless to learn.
Here are a few examples:
teen - "seed"
kaak - "animal"
kwang - "royal fern"
leum - "home"
gakwñe - "fish scale"
wiauydoul - "price"
Plural
Nouns may be singular or plural without inflection. The number of a noun typically needs to be identified by context. However, there is a pluralizing morpheme, beym. This can be placed after a noun to indicate the meaning "many".
teen beym - "many seeds"
kaak beym - "many animals"
kwang beym - "many royal ferns"
leum beym - "many homes"
gakwñe beym - "many fish scales"
wiauydoul beym - "many prices"
Associative Plural
Himmaswa has an associative plural, which means a single instance of a noun and a group associated with that noun in some way. Most often, this refers to people rather than things. In many cases, the associative plural is formed identically to the regular plural:
Gleh'auk - "Gleh'auk" (given name)
fion - "king"
chgay - "school"
Gleh'auk beym - "Gleh'auk and his friends/associates/family"
fion beym - "the king and his procession; the monarchy"
chgay beym - "the people at the school"
In cases where it is desirable to differentiate the associative plural from the standard plural, the construction N N-tom beym can be used. This is not, however, used with proper nouns, which, when pluralized, are always interpreted as associative plurals.
fion-tom beym - "the king and his procession; the monarchy"
chgay-tom beym - "the people at the school"
Nonspecific indefiniteness
To indicate a general, prototypical, or hypothetical example, a noun can be compounded with the word gaga, a nonspecific indefinite pronoun. This word comes before the noun it modifies:
gaga-fion "a king; any king; all kings; kings"
gaga-iok "a bee; any bee; all bees; bees"
gaga-pkor "a harvest; any harvest; all harvests; harvests"
The nonspecific indefinite pronoun cannot be used with beym when it is used as a standard plural marker:
gaga-mdaiy "a fern; any fern; all ferns; ferns"
* *gaga-mdaiy beym *"any many ferns"
However, it can be used with the associative plural:
gaga-heuubngoy "a farm; any farm; all farms; farms"
gaga-heuubngoy beym "any farm and the people or things associated with it; farms, and the people/things associated with them"
The distinction between these two is made either by context, or with the word tom.
With proper nouns, this construction means "people named X":
gaga-Gleh'auk - "people named 'Gleh'auk'"
Vocabulary
Word list from this lesson:
beym - plural, associative plural
chgay - "school"
fion - "king"
gaga - nonspecific indefinite pronoun, also acts as prefix to make nonspecific indefinite nouns
gakwñe - "fish scale"
Gleh'auk - "Gleh'auk" (given name)
heuubngoy "farm"
iok - "bee"
kaak - "animal"
kwang - "royal fern"
leum - "home"
mdaiy - "fern"
pkor - "harvest"
teen - "seed"
-tom beym - associative plural
wiauydoul - "price"
Exercise
Translate these to Himmaswa:
1. an animal
2. seeds
3. many farms
4. royal ferns (in general)
5. the people at home (i.e. associated with home)
6. fish scales (in general)
Translate these to English:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Last edited by clawgrip on 23 Jan 2015 17:06, edited 4 times in total.
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 1:
Lesson 2:
Lesson 3:
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
(she)
(she)
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
All your answers are right, except that final consonants are not aspirated. I had not included that information in the post when you replied though, so that's my fault, not yours.Dezinaa wrote:Here are my answers for lesson 2:I'm looking forward to more lessons!Spoiler:
Also, is <euu> pronounced /yœ̯/ or /œy̯/?
I really don't know what inspired me to do both at once. I have other things going on too, so it's kind of bad planning for me to do all of this at once. And I have that conlang relay coming up too. Oh well.DesEsseintes wrote:Just wanted to say that I am interested in learning (about) Himmaswa! I love conlang lessons, because they're.. errm.. like natlang lessons, I guess.
Spoiler:
shimobaatar wrote:Lesson 1:
No problems here.Spoiler:
Lesson 2:
Remember, syllable-final consonants are unaspirated.Spoiler:
Lesson 3:
Spoiler:
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Ah, OK. I thought the syllable-final unaspiration was just an allophonic thing, so I left it out. My bad, as they say.
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
(she)
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Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 4: Verb Basics
Verbs are the other main word type in Himmaswa. All verbs belong to one of three aspectual classes: dynamic, perfect, and stative. The class of verb governs which auxiliaries may be used, and to some extent the meanings that they have.
Dynamic verbs carry no inherent aspect and may freely take perfect, imperfect, and other auxiliaries.
Examples of dynamic verbs:
keuong - "go"
diang - "speculate; consider"
kiadap - "burn"
ut - "write"
wgornswech - "etch; engrave"
tsuatsua - "wander around"
Perfect verbs carry an inherent perfect aspect.
Examples of perfect verbs:
chmui - "define; fix; settle"
beuon - "split; divide"
toy - "face; look at"
mjurgen - "discover; find out"
kakachknoak - "release; free"
stomjmach - "marry; get married"
Stative verbs, as their name suggests, indicate states with no implied beginning or end. This verb class is the most limited in terms of what auxiliaries can be used with it.
Examples of stative verbs:
ket - "be red"
tgerng - "own; possess"
turn - "be against; be in opposition"
panglor - "be in good health"
ngeuojgout - "be out in the rain"
yaoyooh - "be lazy"
Let's take a look at the basic imperfect to see how these verb classes differ. The imperfect is marked with the imperfect auxiliary bgaiy, (which also is a noun meaning "now"). This auxiliary, like most, comes after the verb.
Dynamic
Peen kpeun bgaiy.
child eat IMPERF
"The children are eating."
Here, the action is in progress.
Perfect
Chmeu cher bgaiy.
mugwort dry.up IMPERF
"The mugwort has died (dried up)."
Here, the action is completed, but its result is "in progress", so to speak.
Stative
Stative verbs cannot take the imperfect.
Ngaik plao'oyk.
moon be.visible
"The moon is visible."
Here, the state described by the is by nature imperfect. No beginning or end of the action is implied. However, there are times when reference to the beginning of a state is desirable. For these situations, stative verbs can be converted to perfect verbs with the addition of the dependent morpheme jung "become".
Ngaik jung-plao'oyk bgaiy.
moon become=be.visible IMPERF
"The moon is now visible/has become visible."
Sometimes, there are verbs that are semantically identical, but belong to different aspectual classes. In these cases, it is not necessary to use an auxiliary to change the aspect, as the base verb itself can be swapped out.
ptiah "have; hold" DYN
tgerng "own; possess" STA
gliañ "die" PERF
pjak "be dead" STA
kang "create; make" DYN
wau "create; make" PERF
Examples:
Nglooaykeuu teuk gloañjouk.
builder use.STA wood
"The builder uses wood."
Nglooaykeuu kyang gloañjouk.
builder use.DYN wood
"The builder is using wood (this time)."
(On a side note, it should be obvious at this point that the basic word order is SVO, though this is somewhat fluid, and will have to be explained later.)
Vocabulary from this lesson (sure is a lot) plus a couple more for the exercises:
beuon - "split; divide" PERF
bgaiy "now"; simple imperfect auxiliary
cher "dry out; dry up" PERF
chmeu "mugwort"
chmui - "define; fix; settle" PERF
diang - "speculate; consider" DYN
gloañjouk "wood"
heuukeuu - "farmer"
ia "man"
jung- "become"; perfect verb prefix
kakachknoak - "release; free" PERF
ket - "be red" STA
keuong - "go" DYN
keuu - "person"
kiadap - "burn" DYN
kpun "eat" DYN
kyang "use" DYN
loum "dog"
mjurgen - "discover; find out" PERF
naun "woman"
ngaik "moon"
ngeuojgout - "be out in the rain" STA
nglooaykeuu "builder"
panglor - "be in good health" STA
peen "child"
piang "be big" STA
plao'oyk "be visible" STA
stomjmach - "marry; get married" PERF
teuk "use" STA
tgerng - "own; possess" STA
toy - "face; look at" PERF
tsuatsua - "wander around" DYN
turn - "be against; be in opposition" STA
ut - "write" DYN
wgornswech - "etch; engrave" DYN
yaoyooh - "be lazy" STA
Exercise:
Translate to Himmaswa:
1. Gleh'auk is writing.
2. Many bees have died.
3. The woman is out in the rain.
4. The person is wandering around.
Translate to English:
1.
2.
3.
4. (there are several valid ways to translate this one; just go for the general idea)
Verbs are the other main word type in Himmaswa. All verbs belong to one of three aspectual classes: dynamic, perfect, and stative. The class of verb governs which auxiliaries may be used, and to some extent the meanings that they have.
Dynamic verbs carry no inherent aspect and may freely take perfect, imperfect, and other auxiliaries.
Examples of dynamic verbs:
keuong - "go"
diang - "speculate; consider"
kiadap - "burn"
ut - "write"
wgornswech - "etch; engrave"
tsuatsua - "wander around"
Perfect verbs carry an inherent perfect aspect.
Examples of perfect verbs:
chmui - "define; fix; settle"
beuon - "split; divide"
toy - "face; look at"
mjurgen - "discover; find out"
kakachknoak - "release; free"
stomjmach - "marry; get married"
Stative verbs, as their name suggests, indicate states with no implied beginning or end. This verb class is the most limited in terms of what auxiliaries can be used with it.
Examples of stative verbs:
ket - "be red"
tgerng - "own; possess"
turn - "be against; be in opposition"
panglor - "be in good health"
ngeuojgout - "be out in the rain"
yaoyooh - "be lazy"
Let's take a look at the basic imperfect to see how these verb classes differ. The imperfect is marked with the imperfect auxiliary bgaiy, (which also is a noun meaning "now"). This auxiliary, like most, comes after the verb.
Dynamic
Peen kpeun bgaiy.
child eat IMPERF
"The children are eating."
Here, the action is in progress.
Perfect
Chmeu cher bgaiy.
mugwort dry.up IMPERF
"The mugwort has died (dried up)."
Here, the action is completed, but its result is "in progress", so to speak.
Stative
Stative verbs cannot take the imperfect.
Ngaik plao'oyk.
moon be.visible
"The moon is visible."
Here, the state described by the is by nature imperfect. No beginning or end of the action is implied. However, there are times when reference to the beginning of a state is desirable. For these situations, stative verbs can be converted to perfect verbs with the addition of the dependent morpheme jung "become".
Ngaik jung-plao'oyk bgaiy.
moon become=be.visible IMPERF
"The moon is now visible/has become visible."
Sometimes, there are verbs that are semantically identical, but belong to different aspectual classes. In these cases, it is not necessary to use an auxiliary to change the aspect, as the base verb itself can be swapped out.
ptiah "have; hold" DYN
tgerng "own; possess" STA
gliañ "die" PERF
pjak "be dead" STA
kang "create; make" DYN
wau "create; make" PERF
Examples:
Nglooaykeuu teuk gloañjouk.
builder use.STA wood
"The builder uses wood."
Nglooaykeuu kyang gloañjouk.
builder use.DYN wood
"The builder is using wood (this time)."
(On a side note, it should be obvious at this point that the basic word order is SVO, though this is somewhat fluid, and will have to be explained later.)
Vocabulary from this lesson (sure is a lot) plus a couple more for the exercises:
beuon - "split; divide" PERF
bgaiy "now"; simple imperfect auxiliary
cher "dry out; dry up" PERF
chmeu "mugwort"
chmui - "define; fix; settle" PERF
diang - "speculate; consider" DYN
gloañjouk "wood"
heuukeuu - "farmer"
ia "man"
jung- "become"; perfect verb prefix
kakachknoak - "release; free" PERF
ket - "be red" STA
keuong - "go" DYN
keuu - "person"
kiadap - "burn" DYN
kpun "eat" DYN
kyang "use" DYN
loum "dog"
mjurgen - "discover; find out" PERF
naun "woman"
ngaik "moon"
ngeuojgout - "be out in the rain" STA
nglooaykeuu "builder"
panglor - "be in good health" STA
peen "child"
piang "be big" STA
plao'oyk "be visible" STA
stomjmach - "marry; get married" PERF
teuk "use" STA
tgerng - "own; possess" STA
toy - "face; look at" PERF
tsuatsua - "wander around" DYN
turn - "be against; be in opposition" STA
ut - "write" DYN
wgornswech - "etch; engrave" DYN
yaoyooh - "be lazy" STA
Exercise:
Translate to Himmaswa:
1. Gleh'auk is writing.
2. Many bees have died.
3. The woman is out in the rain.
4. The person is wandering around.
Translate to English:
1.
2.
3.
4. (there are several valid ways to translate this one; just go for the general idea)
Last edited by clawgrip on 24 Jan 2015 13:08, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 4:
In general, I just don't understand aspects very well at all, but I did what I could here.
Spoiler:
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
(she)
(she)
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Overall you did fine here. Do you mean you don't understand aspect in any language, or do you mean I did not explain Himmaswa aspect very well? If I didn't, I will add more detail.shimobaatar wrote:Lesson 4:
In general, I just don't understand aspects very well at all, but I did what I could here.Spoiler:
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Oh, no, I meant in any language.clawgrip wrote:Overall you did fine here. Do you mean you don't understand aspect in any language, or do you mean I did not explain Himmaswa aspect very well? If I didn't, I will add more detail.shimobaatar wrote:Lesson 4:
In general, I just don't understand aspects very well at all, but I did what I could here.Spoiler:
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
(she)
(she)
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 5: Personal pronouns
Here's a quick lesson: personal pronouns. Modern, standard Himmaswa has many assorted pronouns, but a total of only four personal pronouns:
hwai - first person pronoun
duool - second person pronoun
tui - third person non-predicative pronoun
itui - third person predicative pronoun
There is no gender or animacy distinction, and all pronouns can represent singular or plural. Typically, context disambiguates, but pronouns can also take the plural marker beym which we saw in the first lesson.
Probably what I need to explain next is why there are two separate third person pronouns. The exact reason is too hard to explain right now because the relevant grammar has not yet been explained, but suffice to say that the standard third person pronoun has an additional grammatical role which is commonly occurring and could lead to ambiguity and confusion if it appeared after a verb. Therefore, the pronoun itui exists to eliminate this ambiguity. I will get to the alternate function of tui later on.
There are a few archaic/dialectal pronouns as well, but they are not necessary to learn right now.
Exercise:
Translate to Himmaswa:
It is red.
I am facing you.
You engraved it.
Translate to English:
1.
2.
3.
I feel like my explanation of perfect verbs may not have been sufficient for you to do these exercises quite right. What I want to say is that it is normal enough for unmarked perfect verbs to be translated as past tense, or present perfect, or some such form in English, though again, how they should be translated is heavily based on context (but there is absolutely no context for these sentences, is there...).
Here's a quick lesson: personal pronouns. Modern, standard Himmaswa has many assorted pronouns, but a total of only four personal pronouns:
hwai - first person pronoun
duool - second person pronoun
tui - third person non-predicative pronoun
itui - third person predicative pronoun
There is no gender or animacy distinction, and all pronouns can represent singular or plural. Typically, context disambiguates, but pronouns can also take the plural marker beym which we saw in the first lesson.
Probably what I need to explain next is why there are two separate third person pronouns. The exact reason is too hard to explain right now because the relevant grammar has not yet been explained, but suffice to say that the standard third person pronoun has an additional grammatical role which is commonly occurring and could lead to ambiguity and confusion if it appeared after a verb. Therefore, the pronoun itui exists to eliminate this ambiguity. I will get to the alternate function of tui later on.
There are a few archaic/dialectal pronouns as well, but they are not necessary to learn right now.
Exercise:
Translate to Himmaswa:
It is red.
I am facing you.
You engraved it.
Translate to English:
1.
2.
3.
I feel like my explanation of perfect verbs may not have been sufficient for you to do these exercises quite right. What I want to say is that it is normal enough for unmarked perfect verbs to be translated as past tense, or present perfect, or some such form in English, though again, how they should be translated is heavily based on context (but there is absolutely no context for these sentences, is there...).
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Lesson 5:
Spoiler:
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
(she)
(she)
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Great! I may have only one follower here, but you're doing a good job of it. Thanks.
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
Haha, my pleasure. Thanks for keeping the lessons relatively short; otherwise, I wouldn't have time to do them.clawgrip wrote:Great! I may have only one follower here, but you're doing a good job of it. Thanks.
The user formerly known as "shimobaatar".
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- rupestrian
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 06 Feb 2015 14:30
Re: Himmaswa lian choo (Learn Himmaswa)
You've gained another follower. Your script and grammar are beautiful. I've been looking for an East Asian-inspired logographic language to use in roleplaying. I might as well ask: do you plan on releasing the font? I can completely understand you not wanting to lose control over it considering the amount of work you put in, but I figure I will request your policy on that up front.